The Damned City
by chashkieh
Summary: Every 5 years, Braskan is covered in darkness for a month. It's a natural phenomenon but this time, it was a nightmare.
1. Assignment

_**Author's Note: I was inspired by the movie 30 Days of Night that's why I was able to write this fanfiction. Ash, Cole and Crimson are from the original stories written by me and my college friend entitled 'Legacy of Shadows'.**_

* * *

His Dark Authority sent Cole an urgent message regarding a recent vampire activity on a city where slayers or hunters never existed. Every five years, that city is swallowed by darkness in a span of thirty days, a natural phenomenon for the townspeople but a means of feeding ground for vampires.

Vampires have lived for centuries by covering their tracks, making people believe that they were just mythical creatures. But the demon slayers know better.

"Ash, I have a job for you."  
"A job? I'm not a demon hunter."  
"I know, but you are the slayer."  
"Yep. Shouldn't it be obvious by now?"  
"Anyway, I was to send demon hunters to that city but we are low on people. So I'm sending you instead."  
"I don't understand."  
"A city named Braskan is covered in darkness for a month every five years. Vampires discovered this fact just recently and is now wreaking havoc to that city."  
"Every city has their own demon slayer. What, is she dead?"  
"A slayer was never assigned or activated there. Why? They didn't need it, until now."  
"So you're ditching me to that dreadful place for a month?"  
"You can wipe out the legion in a day or a week, right? It's no biggie."  
"Hahaha. Where'd you learn that term Dad? Going back, if it's no biggie as you say,why would you even bother sending me there?"  
"There's something hidden in the city that the vampires want."  
"Aside from blood, what else is there?"  
"That's for you to find out."  
"Who's gonna look after NQC? You?"  
"I have made arrangements. A substitute slayer will take care of it for you."  
"Why don't you send that substi instead?"  
"Braskan needs a more experienced slayer. NQC is in a fairly well-maintained peace. For now, it just needs babysitting and I believe your alternate is suitable for that. Do we have an understanding?"  
"The heck's with that phrase?"  
"..."

There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Cole asked her yet again.

"So, how about it?"  
"Do I have a choice?"  
"No."  
"Right."  
"When did you become such a whiner?"  
"Oh, I don't know, just now?"  
"They need you there."

_Great. I'll be stuck in a city for a month without the sun. Which means I can never go to sleep because I'll be on patrol the whole day and I won't be able to tell the difference if it's daytime!_

Ash walks away from the scene clearly annoyed with her father. She bumps Crimson as she was heading out.

"Ashley, what are you doing here?" asked Crimson  
"Getting pissed off. What about you?"  
"Ninong sent me."  
"Okay. We'll talk later err, maybe after a month."

Ash continued to walk leaving Crimson perplexed.

_Rush: What is wrong with her?_  
_Crimson: I don't have the slightest of the slights._

He entered the room.

* * *

Two hours later, Ash was picked up by their limousine and was dropped off at the airport. She saw Crimson standing there.

"So, I kind of figured that HDA will have you tag along."  
"HDA?"

He thinks for a split second.

"Oh yeah, His Dark Authority. I'm not complaining with us being a tag team and all but it kind of sucks to not see the light of day for a month."  
"I thought you like darkness?"  
"I do." Crimson reaffirmed. "But too much of something is never good. It does have its advantages though."  
"Yeah, we can't go to sleep for a month."

* * *

_**A/N: **_  
_**Written: November 3rd, 2008 **_  
_**Revised: August 18th, 2010 **_  
_**Re-edited: January 5th, 2012**_


	2. Braskan

_**Author's Note: I split this story into several chapters so that I can re-read them and check whether I need to add something. :)**_

* * *

They arrived at the main street of Braskan. There's blood everywhere.

"You think HDA sent us way too late?" A worried tone in her voice.  
"They couldn't have."  
"Exactly how many days has it been? This is a complete disaster."  
"I'm sure there are still survivors."  
"I hope so. Else, coming here is useless. If I am one of the survivors, where would I be?"  
"What do you think is the safest place here?"  
"Police station?"  
"Sensible enough." Crimson replied nonchalantly.  
"Well of course. Lots of gun - not that it's going to work against bloodsuckers but it should help slow them down for a little bit..."

Crimson wasn't paying attention to her anymore.

"Hmm, should we just walk there? Coz I don't want to. It's freezing here." Ash explained.  
"The car would be a nuisance." He prodded.  
"Well, we would need the car to let them escape or something."  
"You drive, I'll be jumping on the rooftops"  
"Fine with me."

_What is with him and driving?_ she thought.

Ash has just turned on the engine when two vampires attacked. The first vampire smashed the windows when it landed on top of it.

"What the hell!"

She went out and attacked it with a front kick, sending it a few steps away. The second vampire scratched her on the arm. Clearly annoyed, she gave it a roundhouse kick, taking its head off with a single blow.

Crimson takes on the first vampire.

After killing the two creatures, Crimson grabs Ashley's hand and spoke

"You got scratched?"  
"I was careless."  
"Good."

_I know what he meant. I was careless and he gets to bitch at me. It's all cool._

"It's time to get serious slayer. No more whining."  
"No need to rub that in."

* * *

_**A/N: **_  
_**Written: November 3rd, 2008 **_  
_**Revised: August 18th, 2010 **_  
_**Re-edited: January 5th, 2012**_


	3. Police Station

_**Author's Note: It's harder than I thought, splitting up this one story to several chapters... but oh well, it kinda makes reading a little bit easier - but that's just me :)**_

* * *

Walking in the cold is one thing. Finding the police station is another. Ashley is growing more and more impatient and annoyed as they trodded down the street.

"Why, for Pete's sake did you not wear warmer clothing?" Rush commented.  
"Didn't know it would be this cold here, damn it!" She cursed under her breath.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and 59 seconds later, they found what they were looking for - survivors.

"Who the hell are you people?"

The sheriff pointed a double-barreled shotgun directly at Ashley's head.

"There's no need for that chief. We're here to help you." She said as she tries to pacify the panicked cop.

"Put the gun down sir, before I hurt you." Crimson warned.

"Get out of here!" Now, he's shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Nice going Crimson. Thank you very much for your help." She muttered as she glared at her friend.

"Listen, we are not one of them. We're here to help you get out. Trust us."  
"This is your last warning. Get out or I'll shoot you down. I swear!"

His finger rested firmly on the trigger and he was ready to shoot any moment.

"Since it's already like this..." Ash slowly brought down her hands and gave Crimson a slight nod.

**Bang!**

Pieces of little debris from the ceiling covered the three of them.

"What the hell.." reacted the sheriff.  
"I told you already, we're here to help." she reassured him.  
"You can't help us. Those things those creatures massacred this town."  
"Those things are called vampires. They are blood sucking creatures that feed on human or animal blood - mostly human blood for survival."  
"But vampires are just myths."  
"Uh huh. So what do you think attacked you people?" Crimson said in a dead tone. He was still holding on to the shotgun he took away from the sheriff.  
"Hnn..."  
"I thought so."

The sheriff creased his forehead, unable to absorb the information they were giving him. He's also freaked out by how fast the gun was taken away from him by this guy.

"Are you still thinking about what happened back there? Don't. It'll give you a migraine." Ash prodded. "Oh, sorry, by the way, I'm Ash and this is Crimson. We're from NQC."  
"NQC? That's too far from here!"  
"Yeah. We've been sent here to wipe out the legion."  
"But how? They're a lot stronger than any of us."  
"Oh, you have no idea how strong we are." Crimson said.  
"Enough about that. Is this everyone?" Ash inquired.  
"We're all that's left as far as I know. Everyone else is either turned or is just plain dead."  
"Gather up. We're getting you out of here. Do you know any other place where we could take you temporarily while we kick some ass?"

Crimson, more than anyone else, just wanted to get it over with.

"The power plant. A few blocks from here. But we can't go just now if it isn't vampires, it's the whiteout that will kill us."  
"A whiteout. Great." Ash remarked in a sarcastic tone.  
"One more nuisance." Crimson added.  
"Yeah. How long is it for Sheriff?"  
"About 30 minutes or less. We have no choice but to wait it out."  
"Geez. Alright. I am so gonna kill my dad after this. By the way, how many days has it been since the first attack?"  
"About 28 days."  
"28 days? How slow can HDA get? If they had sent us in a day or two this wouldn't have gotten this big."  
"Ashley, this is a very remote place. No one could've seen this coming not even HDA."  
"Ugh. I kinda know that Crimson. It just pisses me off that a lot of people had to die."  
"We just have to save what we can. I can't wait to kill them vampires."  
"I'm with you there buddy. Come to think of it though, we won't be spending a month of endless routines "  
"What is HDA?"  
"HDA is a powerful organization that doesn't concern you just yet." Crimson replied.  
"If they are as powerful as you say, why didn't they deploy military operatives here?"  
"And let those soldiers be turned as well? Sure."  
"We have a bigger chance than "  
"It's pretty obvious that you don't trust our abilities. Should I break an arm or two just to prove myself? It will only take a second. And then 7 more seconds to break everyone's arms."

He glared at the sheriff.

"Crimson!" Ash drags Crimson to the other room.

"Just ignore him okay? You're better than this."  
"Let's just get this over with Ash. That sheriff is getting on my nerves."  
"Yeah. I don't like him too." Rush added.  
"I know. I suggest you focus your anger on something else okay? Another dead person is way far too much for me."

* * *

**A/N: **  
**Written: November 3rd, 2008 **  
**Revised: August 18th, 2010 **  
**Re-edited: January 5th, 2012**


	4. Heading Out

_**Author's Note: The whiteout part wasn't on the very first draft of this story. I just thought of it after watching the movie "White Out" by Kate Beckinsale. There's really nothing more about the whiteout part. I just felt the need to include it :)**_

* * *

After the whiteout passed, they rounded up the remaining survivors.

"So there are," she started to count "Eight of you. We'll split into two groups - I'll take care of the first group."  
"When I say run, you run. Run like hell"

Crimson stared at his group.

"But you said that the both of you can take them on.."  
"Yes." Crimson answered. "But the thing is, you all are damsels in distress. You're the bag of load... the pain in the ass... "  
"Crimson, stop it. I think he gets the point." Ashley intervened "Look people, we will do our best not to let them get close. But you also have to do your part." She then turns to her friend and said "I told you we needed that car."

"It's been thrashed remember?" "I'm just trying to prove a point."  
"..."

"Okay here's the plan." She started "First group - mine, will run for the power plant while the second group waits here. Once I confirm location, second group will head out. Is that understood?"

"Can't everyone make a run for it?" one of the survivors inquired.  
"It's best that we divide and conquer."

Rush suddenly approached Ash as she was getting ready to go.

"Hey Ash, we have something for you."  
"What?"

Crimson hands over a capsule.

"I don't need medicine, I'm fine."  
"Open it, you'll see." Rush said sweetly.

Ash cracks it open. Something really big came out of it and got stuck on the ground. Ash's face lights up.

"The Simple Knife."  
"My mom would've wanted you to have it." Crimson added "But how did it fit into that capsule?"  
"Lilia made it possible."  
"Wow. She really is into her craft."  
"Well I just wished she was more creative. She could've made it into a necklace or something."  
"That's a wonderful suggestion!"  
"Maybe she wasn't feeling well when she cast it in that capsule "

The survivors saw how enormous the simple knife was and were having doubts if Ash could even lift the thing.

"This is cool though. Why didn't you give this to me earlier?"

She pulls the Simple Knife from the ground like it was nothing and wings it back and forth to try it out.

"I thought you wouldn't need it."  
"Awesome."  
"How in the world could you carry that thing?" The sheriff asked.  
"Oh, it's not heavy at all. Wanna try?"  
"Ugh, no."  
"Let's get going then."

* * *

"Stick together."

The four people with Ash were all exhausted probably from hunger and from trying to survive the cold. One of them was the sheriff's brother Jack, along with three other nearby neighbors. They reached the power plant safely. After ensuring that they were the only people in the powerplant for the time being, Ash radios Crimson and gives them the go signal. Ash prepared to leave.

"I gotta go."  
"But who's going to protect us?" asked Jack.  
"You will all be safe here. There's only one entrance and exit I will manually lock you all in while I assist Crimson and the others. You're in charge alright?"  
"But..."  
"Look kid, you survived this long. Don't chicken out on me okay?"  
"Yes Ma'am!"  
"Good. And don't call me Ma'am. It's Ash."  
"Okay. Ash?"

Ash stops midway.

"Please don't let anything happen to my brother. He's the only family I have left"  
"I can't assure that but I promise I'll give it my best shot."

She went out of the power plant and locks the door. Meanwhile, back at the police station...

"Prep up. That's our cue."

Rush's eyes narrowed and turned red once again returning to his slayer mode. The sheriff and three others were frightened at what they saw. Apparently, they weren't paying much attention to how often Crimson Rhum's eyes changed everytime he switches personalities.

"You're one of them!" exclaimed the sheriff.  
"Relax you freak. I am not a freaking bloodsucker. Besides, if I was, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me. Do you want to live? Shut your pipehole."

His words were like daggers - he just couldn't stop himself from lashing out on the cop.

* * *

Crimson opens the door of the police station and led his team outside. It was quiet. Too quiet.

He radios Ash.

"Something is wrong."

He told Ash while gesturing his team to be on the look out for a possible ambush.

"I'm halfway there. Try to proceed as planned. Do your best not to let them get hurt."

_What a lousy day...night?. These vampires are a bit harder to kill because they're immuned from the stake. But then again, Crimson and I always like the challenge._

Crimson gives the go signal as his team walks slowly and cautiously, heading towards the power plant. A few steps more and the legion just appeared before them and had them surrounded. The group closes in to him while he assessed the situation.

_Crimson: These people are a pain this would've been easier  
Rush: What are we going to do?_  
_Crimson: Shut up._

The vampires stared at Crimson, clueless of what he's really capable of.

"Crimson, what's happening?" Ash said worriedly.  
"This will be messy."  
"Hold them off as long as you can. I'm almost there. The cold is kinda slowing me down..."  
"Just make sure you get here. Over and out."

The lead vampire orders his subordinates to attack. Crimson fends them off effectively, not letting any of them get to his team.

"Run like hell, now!" He shouted.

The four people ran away as fast as they can from the scene with Crimson distracting the vampires. One of the four stumbled and got caught. Crimson can only do so much and he won't be able to make it on time to save the poor girl. As the vampire was about to feed on her, a huge knife came between them that sliced it in half. Crimson was relieved upon seeing the slayer.

"That was close. Wow. The Simple Knife came in handy." She proudly said.

She helps the girl stand up and told her to make a run for it.

"I'll guide your team, you take care of these freaks."

Crimson just nodded.

"We'd love to."

The vampires wouldn't let their prey slip without a fight but Ash and Crimson were moving as if they were each other's shadows, preventing the lurkers to get past them. The sheriff and two others were able to hide in a safe place. The girl caught up with them.

"Okay, this looks fun."

She said as she assumed her fighting stance and attacked the vampires on her way, head on. She cut their heads off, sliced them in half, and even made silly slashes - the slayer is really having fun swinging the Simple Knife.

After wiping out the vampires, Crimson approached the sheriff and helped him stand up. He stares again at the Sheriff's tired and frightened eyes as he spoke,

"Now that is entertainment. Satisfied Sheriff?" He mocked. "Do you know how easily I could take your head off?"

Crimson snaps his fingers right at the sheriff's face.

"As easy as that."  
"Crimson!"  
"..."

* * *

_**A/N:**_  
_**Written: November 3rd, 2008**_  
_**Revised: August 18th, 2010**_  
_**Re-edited: January 5th, 2012**_


	5. Good Morning

_**Author's Note: At last, the final chapter. I've editted some of the lines but aside from those minor changes, story's still the same. :)**_

* * *

"Now what?" Rush said after entering the power plant.  
"Well, we have to go out on patrol. These people will be safe in here. Dad said there's something that the supervamps need in this town. Were you able to figure it out or something?"  
"No." He said sternly.

_Great._

"Any of you guys, have an idea what these supervamps want aside from you people being breakfast lunch and dinner?"  
"No."  
"This town's built here for a reason. Have you heard any weird stuff anything to help us figure this out?"  
"Hmm.." the sheriff started "there were rumors before that there's something beneath this town."

"A hellmouth?" Crimson and Ash sounded out in unison.

"What was that?"  
"A hellmouth is basically our way of saying that this town is screwed. The reason why those vampires are attracted here is because the hellmouth gives them power. If they find out where it is, they'd be harder to kill." Crimson explained.  
"You mean unstoppable?"  
"Unstoppable? No. Harder to kill? Yes. You people dead? Hardly. You dead? Hmm."

_Crimson: I would really like to kill him now._  
_Rush: I feel the same thing._

Crimson talks to his other selves often, causing him to pause for a bit as they discuss things internally. He had the ginsu already on his right hand, ready to slash at anything.

"That's enough morbid talk for you. So Sheriff, where is this hellmouth located?" interrupted Ash.  
"I don't know honestly."

_Well, isn't that helpful_? Ash thought.

"So any inputs on this Crimson?"  
"I don't know anything."' Rush responded.  
"You're not Crimson."  
"Oh yeah, sorry."  
"Easy. Those supervamps are attracted to the hellmouth, they'll lead us right to it."  
"I don't think they'd be happy to assist us after what we did."

They were silent for a while until Crimson came up with another idea.

"My mother used the simple knife to open up a portal when we were kids. It should be able to close the hellmouth."  
"Which brings us back to the same question, how do we find it?"  
"The simple knife should be attracted to it as well."  
"How would I know?"  
"I don't know."  
"Perfect. We'll just scour the town. Sheriff, if you can, please restore the power."  
"I will do my best. Be careful out there both of you."  
"Thank you."

Crimson and Ash walks away and locks the survivors in.

"And I'm gonna tell HDA to assign a demon slayer here." Ash pointed out.  
"I don't like it here either."  
"I thought every city has their own slayer...geez. I wonder why they never thought of appointing someone here."  
"You're obsessing."  
"Please."

* * *

There wasn't any other option but to scour the town for them to find the hellmouth.

"Is it just me or this thing is getting heavier by the minute?"

Ash is dragging the simple knife she had carried single handedly when she was in combat.

"Can I try?" offered Rush.  
"Yeah Wait, have you held the simple knife before?"  
"I have." He suddenly switched to Crimson.

He grabs the weapon and was able to lift it just enough.

"I can see you're exerting much effort like I have the past few minutes."  
"I think this is the effect of the hellmouth to the simple knife. The closer we are to it, the heavier the weapon gets."  
"Oh. That's not good. How will I be able to close the hellmouth if I can't even lift it?"  
"I'm sure you'd come up with something."  
"Ugh. Alright, I'll think of something when we get there. Okay, which way?"

Ash lifts the simple knife and points it at any direction, swinging it back and forth.

"Are you trying to write your name?" Crimson spoke sarcastically. "You look ridiculous."  
"I'm trying " she spat, while swinging the simple knife "to see which direction this thing gets rather weighty."  
"Hmm. While you're at it, maybe you can slice this apple in half."  
"I can cut it!" Rush re-emerged.  
"Shut up." Crimson re-takes control.

He shows her the apple on his hand. Ash clearly annoyed, swung her knife and sliced it neatly in half without hitting Crimson. He smirks at her and takes a bite from his apple.

"Do you have a better idea?" Her eyebrows raised as she questioned him.  
"No." He simply said.  
"Well then, just sit tight and eat your goddamn apple and let me do this."  
"I'm not trying to stop you."

Growing tired, Ash gave it one more try and finally got lucky.

"Okay I think that's where the hellmouth is."  
"Alright, let's go. Are you sure you'd be able to carry that thing? I'm sorry about my other self...you know how he is sometimes." Rush apologized.  
"Don't worry about it."

Ash drags the simple knife and walks ahead of Crimson. As the minutes pass, the weapon got heavier until she can't even lift the handle from the ground.

"This must be where the hellmouth is. I can't lift it anymore." She admitted.  
"You're right."

Both of them stand in awe as they saw the hellmouth a few meters away from them.

A hellmouth is basically an entrance to hell it attracts demons and vampires alike and makes them stronger. A slayer's weapon such as the simple knife, can also harness the hellmouth's power but its wielder should be equally strong or it will be impossible to even lift it. The more it absorbs power, the weightier it gets.

"Well, don't just stand there. Close it already." Rush insisted.  
"Yeah sure, if I could just carry this thing " Ash lets her inner strength out but doesn't succeed on heaving the weapon.  
"Crap! This really sucks." "What are we gonna do? We're sitting ducks!" Rush looked like he was about to suffer a nervous breakdown.  
"Okay, first off, we're not sitting" she allowed herself to breathe for a minute "and second, we're _**DEFINITELY**_ not ducks."

* * *

Back in NQC, Riley almost choked himself to death after swallowing a big chunk of beef steak.

* * *

"I was speaking metaphorically." Rush explained.

"Whatever."

She attempts to heave it up again and succeeds, but it was too much for her that she instantly dropped the weapon.

"Are you okay?"  
"I'll survive."

Rush sees Ash's hands bleeding. She wraps it using her handkerchief and clenches them somehow hating herself for not being powerful enough to handle the simple knife against the hellmouth.

Rush talks silently with Crimson.

_Rush: You're a slayer right? Shouldn't you be able to use the simple knife as well?_  
_Crimson: Yeah sure I can faggot. But the thing is, you see, Ashley is more powerful than I am as a slayer, so if anybody can use the fucking weapon, it would be her._  
_Rush: But, what should we do? She can't even carry it anymore._  
_Crimson: She can think of something. She always does._  
_Rush: Either way, we should ask for help a witchety help._

Rush takes out his personal wizard but was surprised to see that it was broken.

"Fuck!" Crimson blurted out.  
"What?"  
"PW's busted. Must have been from the fight a while ago. Where's your PW?"

Ash searches her pocket for her personal wizard.

"I must have left it in the plane."  
"Bitch! Now we're gonna be stuck here!" He said angrily.  
"Relax. We'll find a way. In the meantime..."

Just then, a number of supervamps came out of the hellmouth.

"We're just gonna have to hold down the fort and use whatever we have." she continued.  
"And so they were able to find it before we got here. You ready slayer?"  
"Well, what choice do I have?"

Ash relieves from heaving the simple knife and assumed her fighting started attacking the vampires ruthlessly and relentlessly, killing them as fast as they could, to prevent them from getting much stronger than they already are. But of course, the battle this time is harder. The supervamps who just came out from the hellmouth were like supercharged creatures much faster, much stronger, more fierce.

"Ugly, ugly, ugly beings!" She exclaimed after she snaps another one of the supercharged suckers' head.

Crimson and Ash were surrounded and were at each other's back.

"Well, this is fun." she admitted.  
"Tell me about it"

They separated and started to attack the supervamps again, succeeding on killing a few of them on the spot. But these two do have their limitations.

"They won't stop coming." She breathes out.  
"Ah well, you know how vampires are."  
"Hey, just in case we don't survive, I just wanna tell you that it's been one heck of a ride."  
"Huh. Hell it is. But I refuse to die here. So, shall we get this over with?"  
"Love to."

The battle went on. Crimson falls down. Ash tries to come to his rescue but gets severely scraped by the supervamp's razor-like claws.

At the last minute, Ash draws strength from the hellmouth, enabling her to lift the simple knife. She slashed the hellmouth with all her might, and was able to close it, as it devours all the vampires it had unleashed.

She sheaths the simple knife to the ground and runs to Crimson.

"You okay?" She said as she was pressing on her own wound.  
"I'll survive."  
"Good."

Ash collapses on the ground as the dawn breaks.

_Rush: Is she gonna be okay?_  
_Crimson: She will be. Stop being a whiner. I have to go to sleep. You take over from here._

* * *

Ash wakes up in a hospital room. She sits up abruptly that she immediately felt the pain of her wound.

"Take it easy Ma'am." Jack adjusted her bed so that she could sit comfortably.  
"Where's my friend?"  
"He's sleeping."  
"How did we..."  
"My brother was able to restore the power which helped us release the lock in the powerplant. We already know that the vampires, if there's still some left, won't be able to withstand daylight. We took that opportunity to look for you guys and we found you almost half dead."  
"Oh. And my weapon?"  
"Rook had it towed. It's just in front of the hospital. I still can't believe you managed to carry that thing."  
"Hahaha." She pauses for a split second. "It sure is nice to see the sun again."  
"You have no idea."

A ringing sound of Mozart's "Fur Elise" resonated in the room.

"That's my personal wizard!"

Jack retrieves it from his pocket and hands it over to Ash.

"A personal wizard huh...I found it on a car wreck near the airport. While you guys were out cold, we had set out to check if there are still others who managed to stay alive. I wanted to use it but..."  
"You can't. The new security features needs retinal scan and/or voice recognition. Usually, voice recognition would do the job.."  
"You're quite the techy. We don't have such gadgets here."  
"I figured. Anyway, I gotta take this."  
"Sure."

Ash answers the call. She switched to video conference to let Cole see the aftermath of the tragedy that struck Braskan.

"I see. Where's Rush?"  
"Sleeping."  
"Are you okay? You look pale."  
"I lost a lot of blood. I got battered and I got clawed you know, the usual." She never gets tired of trying to annoy her father, if he's not annoyed yet.  
"I will send help right away."  
"That's good...anyway, there's a hellmouth here. A huge one though not as big as the one we have in NQC. HDA needs to assign someone here."  
"I will setup a conference immediately. For the meantime, take it easy."  
"Alright."

Ash turns off her PW. She then noticed that the Sheriff was standing next to his brother.

"So that's HDA."  
"He's one of the councils, my dad."  
"A slayer..."  
"I know this sounds confusing and all but once HDA reps arrive, they will debrief you and explain everything."  
"You mentioned that a slayer needs to be assigned here "  
"Yes."  
"Why? Didn't you close this hellmouth or whatever it is?"  
"I did. But it's just temporary. Someone or something will always try to open it. If we weren't able to stop it, eventually someone else will but not without further damage to the neighboring cities."  
"I see. Since I'm the one currently in-charge here, can I offer you the job?"

It's the first time she saw him smile, like all the burden has been lifted from him.

"I'm sorry I can't accept it. I have my own city to protect. Rest assured they will assign someone as strong as me who will look after you guys."  
"Very well. Thank you again."  
"Don't worry about it Sheriff. We're good."  
"And one more thing...I'd like to apologize on the way I treated you. I was just..."  
"You were on edge, I understand. Don't fret over it, alright?"  
"If you say so."

* * *

Several planes arrived by sundown. The ever so friendly Carnahan steps out of the blue plane, quickly spotting Crimson standing beside an old chevy driven by Jack. Ash was sitting on the passenger seat.

"Mr. Gin, it's nice to see you again."  
"Yup."  
"Ms. Saint .. oh my, you're wounded."  
"It's okay. Can you just help me board the plane?"  
"Certainly."

He helps her out of the car.

"Are you sure that the two of you will stay here?"  
"Yes. We have to help in the restoration and cleaning up. Are you sure there won't be any vampires at the time being?"  
"I am sure. If there are, that woman talking to your brother, that's your slayer. She will protect this place."  
"That's great!"  
"We need to go Ash. Unless you want to die due to embolism, I suggest you get on the plane."  
"Oh don't be so grouchy. Anyway, take care of yourself Jack."  
"Thank you again, both of you."  
"Don't mention it! We love to help! Bye!" Rush, eventhough he felt tired, still made the comment so cheerfully that it annoyed Crimson.  
"Darn fag!"

Ash and Crimson boarded their plane and left Braskan.

* * *

_**A/N: **_  
_**Written: November 3rd, 2008 **_  
_**Revised: August 18th, 2010 **_  
_**Re-edited: January 5th, 2012**_


	6. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

* * *

**"You have got to take this seriously Ash."**

**Lilia raises her voice a bit over the phone.**

**"You can use the hellmouth's power to your advantage..." she continued.**  
**"That's great!"**  
**"For a price."**  
**"Oh. Not cool. Oh. I just had a bad feeling about what you're going to say next... it has a lot of latin terms"**  
**"You beat me to it."**  
**"No! I can barely say one word in Latin!"**  
**"That couldn't be accurate. You studied Latin for the slayer's ritual."**  
**"I did? Oh yeah! But..Is there any workaround for that?"**  
**"Nope. "**  
**"Ugh. When are you coming back anyways?"**  
**"I don't really know... I have a lot of stuff to take care of. So many things to learn. Anyways, going back, as I've said you can..."**  
**"I can use the power of the hellmouth yada-yada.."**  
**"I'm serious here! You might _need_ to use it someday. You would need to let it consume you just enough to overpower it afterwards..."**  
**"Easier said than done."**  
**"It seems like you're not bothered by this at all."**  
**"Look Lil, I can take care of myself. Thanks for the warning though. I'll read these latin scripts and uh, memorize it."**  
**"Okay. You're not being sarcastic are you?"**  
**"No of course not! Well then Lil, I got to meet up with my dad. Some important matters I guess..."**  
**"Alright. Um, please do send my regards to Uncle."**  
**"Sure. Bye."**  
**"Bye."**

* * *

**Ash walks in to her dad's office.**

**"Ash, I have a job for you."**  
**"A job? I'm not a demon hunter."**  
**"I know, but you are the slayer."**  
**"Yep. Shouldn't it be obvious by now?"**

* * *

The vampire's claws impaling my stomach made me scream. The pain was excruciating... I kind of thought that it was almost intolerable until I felt the adrenaline pumping wildly in my veins. It ticked me off alright that I was able to shove his face to the ground and smash it almost instantly, and turned him to ashes. I knew I didn't have enough power to even heave the simple knife to close the hellmouth, shit happens. Good thing about it is that I was a quick study. I memorized the lines of the dreaded script and had the dark powers consume me. It was almost easy, not having a soul and all - nothing to corrupt, nothing to take of course, too much of something is always bad...

* * *

**"You okay?" She said as she was pressing on her own wound.**  
**"I'll survive."**  
**"Good."**

**Ash collapses on the ground as the dawn breaks.**

_**Is she gonna be okay?**_  
**Yes. Stop being such a whiner. I gotta get some sleep. You take over from here.**

* * *

_We got home from Braskan that same day. I woke up in a hospital bed with a brace on my left arm - must've passed out again on the plane. It stings but it's tolerable. Besides, I'm sure I'll heal in a few more hours. I sat up, jumped right off from the bed. I had to limp though, I just found out that I also sprained my ankle. Damn Crimson's not being careful._

I heard that.

_Oops, sorry. Well, you haven't been careful. You have to remember that we are occupying just one body here. You get this body hurt, it will still hurt when any of us takes over_.

Yeah, you deserve it. You are lazy.

_I am. But see, I'm not a slayer. You are. You have insane strength and agility so it's not very likely for you to be careless._

Stop fretting already! I did what I had to, I get hurt, you get hurt, we all get hurt.

* * *

Cole disrupted the internal conversation the Khulay descendant was doing, when he walked into the room.

"Crimson isn't it?"  
"Yeah. How'd you know?"  
"Hmmm, for one, you don't sound all perky... yeah... well, that's about it. Must be tough dealing with the creatures who came out of the hellmouth. "  
"You have no idea. Good thing I brought the simple knife with me. Tell me the truth Ninong... you're not trying to get us killed right?"  
"What kind of a question is that? I gave you the information that was passed down by HDA. I didn't think that a hellmouth was opened."  
"Sorry Uncle," Rush took over. "my other personality is having an anxiety attack. He pretty much got beaten up by a bunch of supervamps... see this hand? I can't feel anything on my 5 fingers."  
"It's already being investigated."  
"Don't you think it's a little strange that HDA wasn't aware of that hellmouth?"  
"I can't know for sure..."

* * *

Author's Note: I just added this as an epilogue.. found it from my pile of written drafts. Since I''m still suffering from insomnia, I thought I'd just edit a few lines and post it. I don't know how to continue it anyway because it's not really a part of the LOS arcs.

Legend: Crimson/Blood - underlined font; _Rush/Rhum - italicized font;_

**Bold font - flashback**

Normal font - present time


	7. The Characters

**The Characters **(taken directly from my site at wordpress, thelegacyofshadows)

* * *

Here's a brief introduction of the characters from the Legacy arcs.

* * *

**Legacy**- name of the elite group of paranormal experts that consists of slayers, hunters and wiccans in New Quezon City.

Setting: 4th millenia

**Legacy Arcs**:  
Legacy of Shadows  
Legacy of Reflections  
Legacy of Silhouette

**Ash's Legacy**

*Ashley Aldridge Saint - the current slayer. Daughter of Cole and Heather Saint. Lilia Sergei's best friend.  
*Crimson Rhum Khulay Gin - slayer and assassin. Son of Scarlet Khulay and Tony Gin  
*Glicerious Grey Paradise - hunter. Adopted son of the Paradise clan.  
*Lilia Sergei - powerful witch from the Sergei clan. Daughter of Philia, the former Sergei matriarch.  
*Riley Jazard - street fighting practitioner.

**Nika's Legacy**

*Neon (Nika/Nela) Khulay Luz - former slayer. Daughter of Scarlet and the former head of the Luz clan.  
*Kiehln Aldridge Saint - A genius and former lead hunter. Ashley's younger brother.  
*Kenneth Laurent Saint - Blaise Saint's son. An elite hunter. Strongest of his Legacy's bunch. Ash and Kiehln's half-brother/cousin.  
*Philip Sergei - Lilia's twin brother. A genius wiccan.  
*Jay Rile - priest and healer. medical practitioner.

**The Veterans **(the most powerful former members of the Legacy)

*Scarlet Khulay - former slayer. Bestfriend of Philia Sergei.  
*Philia Sergei - former Sergei Matriarch.  
*Cole Saint - reinstated Lead Hunter of NQC. Head council member of His Dark Authority NQC Branch.  
*Yorke Hilberry - former priest and healer. the current Pope.  
*Zandrov 'Viz' Viscarra - centuries-old vampire. Temporary member of Scarlet s Legacy.

**Miscellaneous Characters:**

Ignatius "Nate" Saint - Cole's father. Former lead hunter.  
Heather Aldridge Saint - Ashley, Kiehln and Kenneth's mother.  
Blaise Laurent Saint - Cole's half-brother. Kenneth's dad.  
Julia Sergei - Philia's elder sister. Current Sergei clan matriarch.  
Rain Clears - Ash's ex-bestfriend-turned-werewolf.  
AJ Winters - Rain's werewolf boyfriend.  
Kelly Lin - appointed slayer of New Beijing.  
Stephanie Lin - Kelly's sister, a slayer.  
Tonic 'Tony' Gin - Crimson Rhum's father. An assassin.


End file.
